Brute Force
by JJ Rust
Summary: Original Rangers. Original Enemy. The Power Rangers prepare for all-out war with a race known as the Kraan. Josh Reynolds wonders if he's worthy to be a Ranger, and if he should reveal his true feelings for fellow Ranger Niyati.
1. Chapter 1

Josh Reynolds was scared.

He hated to admit that. Someone like him shouldn't be scared. He was a Power Ranger, for God's sake.

But lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his darkened quarters, thinking about the threat lurking off the California coast, how could he not be scared?

Even worse than being scared, he started questioning himself. Did he deserve to be a Power Rangers? Why had the Keepers of the Light chosen him? What made him so special? He was just a wide receiver for his high school football team, not even the best one on the roster. Oh sure, he loved action movies and adventure novels, enjoyed imagining himself as Bruce Willis in _Die Hard_ or Han Solo from _Star Wars_ or Dirk Pitt from Clive Cussler's novels. Heck, his first few missions with the Rangers unfolded like some action movie. The Kraan would land commandos or send some big ugly monster – they loved big ugly monsters – to some city on the West Coast to stir up trouble, and he, Niyati, Leslie, Randy and Swede would go kick their butts back into the Pacific. No sweat.

Then the war got serious.

The Kraan unleashed an organism that ate through two dams, resulting in massive floods that wiped out several communities. That same organism had almost been let loose on a nuclear power plant, but thankfully they stopped it.

Then the Kraan started setting off volcanoes. Up went Mount Rainier in Washington, taking Tacoma with it. Next it was Mount Spurr in Alaska. Good-bye Anchorage. Had the Rangers not intervened at the last minute, Kilauea would have blown its top.

Lots of people died. Lots more would have died had they not stopped the Kraan in Hawaii.

After that, being an action hero stopped being cool.

Josh let out a slow breath, tension squeezing his muscles. Any moment he expected the klaxons to blare throughout their headquarters, for them to strap into their giant battle robot, Paladin, and meet the Kraan in what would no doubt be the biggest battle of the war.

Nausea burned in his stomach. He hadn't thought much of the Kraan commandos they fought in Del Mar two weeks ago. Just another bunch of fish-faced bozos they beat down without much effort.

Then came the news from the Department of Homeland Security. One of the commandos talked during interrogation. They hadn't been a bunch of idiots who came ashore just to give the Power Rangers headaches. They'd been scouting the beaches between Los Angeles and San Diego for an invasion.

A big invasion.

Somewhere out there were five hundred Kraan dreadnaughts, a combination battleship and troop transport. Each dreadnaught could carry two thousand troops. That meant a grand total of one million Kraan warriors.

The invasion force also included lots of big ugly monsters.

The Kraan did like big ugly monsters.

"Get some rest," their leader Leslie Berenguer, Red Ranger, ordered a few hours ago. "I want you all fresh for when the Kraan land."

Rest. Yeah, right. How the hell could he rest with a million Kraan headed toward the U.S. with one goal in mind?

The extermination of mankind.

Josh groaned and sat up in bed. "Lights."

Athena, the HQ's computer system, activated the lights in his quarters. He got to his feet and trudged toward the door, catching his reflection in the mirror on his dresser. His brown hair was mussed. His round face sagged with worry. He quickly scanned his lean, athletic frame. Had he lost some weight? Probably. His appetite gone to hell since he learned of the Kraan invasion force.

He wandered down the dimly lit corridors until he came to the HQ's main lounge. He scanned the overstuffed chairs and sofas arranged in a circle. The place was deserted, except for . . .

His heart skipped a beat when he spotted the short, slender girl with long dark hair and light brown, regal features sitting on a sofa to his left. She didn't see him. Instead she stared at her folded hands resting on her lap.

He froze, a nervous quiver going through his stomach. Part of him felt stupid. How could he be nervous around her? She was his teammate. They'd fought side-by-side for the past year.

The girl raised her head and softly gasped in surprise. "Oh, Josh. I didn't even see you there."

"That's okay." He forced himself to head toward the coach where Niyati Mahamuni, the Yellow Ranger, sat. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?" He sat next to her, his heart speeding up.

Niyati shook her head. "I'm too wound up. I close my eyes and all I see are hordes of Kraan marching through San Diego and Los Angeles. All these powers we have, and I can't help but wonder, will it be enough?"

He'd had the same thought more times than he could count. Not that he could mention it to anyone. Especially Niyati.

Instead he shrugged. "Hey, we've beaten these guys before. We can do it again."

"Yeah, or die trying." Niyati frowned.

An image tortured his mind. Niyati laying in the shattered remains of Paladin, covered in blood, her body crushed and burned. He fought to suppress a shiver.

"Heh! That's the spirit." He tacked on a wry grin.

Niyati chuckled briefly. "Come on. A million Kraan poised to invade California. You can't tell me you're not at least a little worried."

Josh was about to respond with a, "No, I'm not worried." The words died on his tongue. At that moment, staring at her smooth, beautiful face, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

_Yeah, like I can tell her the truth?_ He was a football player. Football players don't admit to being scared.

Niyati continued to gaze at him, her face tightening, as if demanding an answer.

"Okay," he said. "Well, yeah, I'm nervous. I mean, it's like last year, when we went to the state playoffs."

Niyati's shoulders sagged. She'd always considered sports a waste of time. But she closed her eyes, drew a breath, and refocused on him, as if deciding to humor his train of thought.

Josh continued. "Well, our team hadn't been to State for, like, four years, and the team we were going up against had linemen the size of tanks and a couple tall receivers who were speed demons. Actually, the thing I worried about most was making a mistake. Like, what if I run the wrong route on offense, or what if I let the receiver I'm covering beat me on defense. I was a lot more worried about letting my team down than I was about getting clobbered by some gorilla."

"Well, if you make a mistake on the football field, you might just lose a game. You can come back the next week and try again. Here, if we make a mistake . . . humanity could lose everything."

He emitted a heavy sigh. "I know. That's what has me worried the most."

Josh leaned back into the sofa. Seconds later, so did Niyati. She, too, sighed heavily. "It all seems so unreal. A year ago, my biggest worry was whether my GPA would be high enough to get into a great college, to land me a lot of scholarships. Then some cosmic entity shows up and, for some reason I still can't fathom, picks me to be a Power Ranger."

"Hey, don't short-change yourself. Your brains helped get us out of a bunch of scrapes. Me, if I can't blow it up, beat it up, or fix it with Duct Tape, I ain't much help."

Niyati softly chuckled. "Don't short-change yourself. You've been known to come up with a good idea or two."

He smiled at her. "Wow, praise from you. A year ago I wouldn't think that possible."

"Oh stop." She playfully slapped his arm. Her quick touch sent tingles through his chest.

"Just being honest," Josh told her. "Let's face it, a year ago you thought I was some brainless buffoon of a jock who needed an instruction manual to use a handkerchief."

She shot him a sympathetic smile. "True. I just assumed anyone who spent so much time chasing a ball and getting crushed by three or four big men couldn't have much intelligence. It was pretty judgmental, and unfair, of me. Sorry."

"That's okay. I used to think you were some stuck-up brainiac who looked down her nose at anyone who didn't have straight A's." He paused, glancing up at the ceiling. "Oh, wait a minute. You really are like that."

Niyati's jaw fell open. "Why you . . ." She slapped him on the biceps, hard. Josh just laughed it off. Moments later, Niyati added her laughter to his.

"You know," Josh spoke as he snickered. "If the Kraan weren't trying to kill us all, I'd have to thank them."

An astonished look fell over Niyati's face. "Are you serious?"

"Heck yeah. If they hadn't decided to crawl up from the bottom of the ocean and go to war with us, the Keepers of the Light never would have made us Power Rangers, and we never would have become friends."

"Yeah." Niyati chewed on her lip. "It's a shame it took something like this to make us see one another as an actual person and not a stereotype."

"I know, but if we weren't thrown into this craziness, if we were still just normal high school students, would we be friends?"

The corners of Niyati's mouth twisted. "The sad fact is, probably not. And it shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't take some ocean-dwelling race that wants to wipe out humankind to make two people realize they should be friends instead of clinging to stupid misconceptions about each other."

"I feel the same way, too, Niyati."

Her smile widened. Their gazes locked. Josh found it hard to breathe. My God, she was so beautiful. More than beautiful. Her Indian features made her . . . exotic.

He managed to draw a staggered breath. "I'm, uh, I'm really glad I got to know you, Niyati. You're . . . you're an awesome girl."

Niyati lowered her eyes. Did she just blush? He couldn't tell in the room's dim lighting.

She looked back up at him. "I'm glad I got to know you, too, Josh." She reached out, gently grasping his arm.

He swallowed, unable to take his eyes off that beautiful face. Voices whispered in the back of his mind, about the coming Kraan invasion, the battle that lay ahead. A million Kraan. What if this was one battle they couldn't win? What if . . .

He kept staring at Niyati, his heart thumping furiously.

He leaned forward.

Niyati didn't back away.

_Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God._

The gap between them closed.

"Don't mind me."

Both Josh and Niyati jumped back from one another, their heads whipping in the direction of the voice.

A thin boy with pale skin, an eternally morose look and jet black hair shuffled into the lounge, a small laptop in his hand.

"Randy, so good to see you." Josh's voice dripped with sarcasm as he eyed Randy Powell, the Black Ranger.

"Couldn't sleep," he replied in his usual flat voice. "Figured I'd brush up on the specs of the Kraan's dreadnaughts. See if there might be any weak spots we overlooked." He perched himself on the armrest of the sofa Josh and Niyati sat on. "Niyati, take a look at this." Randy handed her his computer without so much as a please. "Maybe you can help out with these calculations. I'm trying to see how long a dreadnaught can sustain a single burst from their electrical weapons before they have to shut it off. That could give us an advantage when we fight them."

"Um, sure, Randy." Niyati turned to Josh with an apologetic look, then focused on Randy's computer.

Josh groaned to himself, his face scrunching in anger. He wished for something, anything, that he could throw at Goth Boy.

_Another few seconds and me and Niyati . . . dammit!_

He glared at Randy, but the boy's attention was focused on the computer screen.

Josh frowned. He didn't have it in him to stay mad at Randy for long. A year ago that wouldn't have been the case. A year ago, he wouldn't have anything to do with Randy. The guy had been self-absorbed, constantly complained how the world was against him, and that his parents couldn't understand him.

Then his parents, along with hundreds of other people, died on a cruise ship fifty miles off the coast of San Diego in one of the first attacks on mankind by the Kraan. Since then, Randy's focus switched from himself to doing everything possible to defeat the Kraan.

Josh sat quietly on the sofa, barely hearing Niyati and Randy and they discussed all sorts of mathematical equations that went completely over his head. Out the corner of his eye, he glanced at Niyati. So close. Could he try again once Randy went back to his quarters, or had the moment come and gone?

_Please don't let that be the case._

"Wow. I didn't think I'd have company this late at night."

The three of them turned to find a stocky black boy enter the lounge. He wore a small pair of earphones connected to an iPod, and clutched a big plastic tub of Swedish Fish with his left arm.

"Well so much for Leslie wanting us to get some sleep," Josh said.

"Who can sleep wondering when the Kraan are going to invade?" David Upshaw, the Green Ranger, nibbled on the head of a Swedish Fish, his favorite candy, and the reason for his nickname "Swede."

Josh frowned. That was a bad sign. If Swede gobbled Swedish Fish with gusto, then all was right with the world. If he just nibbled on them, that meant he was nervous.

Swede sat on the armrest opposite from Randy, shaking his head. "I swear, I musta listened to the softest soft jazz numbers I've got in my iPod. Thought they might help me sleep."

"Looks like that idea didn't work," commented Josh.

Swede snorted. "I thought about playing my sax. Sometimes that helps me relax. But last time I did that here in the middle of the night, Leslie pitched a fit. That girl definitely has no appreciation for good music."

Josh chuckled to himself. Swede had been the first Power Ranger he really hit it off with. The guy had a friendly, easy-going personality, a wicked sense of humor, and could match Niyati in the brains department. But while he planned to go to college to study engineering, he considered the field, "kinda cool." His true passion lay with music, specifically jazz. Swede could play three instruments - saxophone, piano and trombone – had written some music of his own, and dreamed of starting his own jazz band. As for engineering, Swede once told him, "If my music career doesn't pan out, I can always go build rockets or something."

"Well," Niyati looked around at everyone, "since none of us can get to sleep, what do we do to kill time?"

Josh shrugged. "Movie?"

Swede shook his head. "That would probably wake up Leslie, and we all know how scary she can be when she's barely awake."

"True that." Josh nodded.

"I say we head to the Ops Center." Randy slid off the arm rest and stood. "Look over the specs for the Kraan's dreadnaughts and small arms. We need to be prepared when those scumbags land."

Josh had about four or five wisecracks for that suggestion. He refrained from using any of them. After what happened to Randy's parents, he took the business of fighting the Kraan very, _very_ seriously.

"Um . . ." Niyati bobbed her head from side-to-side. "I guess the Ops Center isn't a bad idea. Randy's right. We should -"

"I thought I told you all to get some sleep."

The four of them turned to find a trim girl with short black hair, and clad in sweatpants and a Santa Maria High School Junior ROTC T-shirt, enter the lounge, looking rather perturbed.

"Um, sorry, Leslie." Swede's eyes flickered from Leslie to the floor. "I just couldn't fall asleep."

"Well you need to try." Leslie folded her arms. "The Pentagon expects the Kraan to land anytime, and I don't want us to be half-asleep when we're fighting them."

"With all due respect, Boss." Josh raised his hand. "How come you're not asleep?"

Niyati and Swede both suppressed their laughter, barely.

Leslie glared at him with her dark liquid eyes, then flashed the briefest of smiles. She had told him more than once that his sarcastic humor helped keep the team loose. On the flip side, she had pointed out on more than one occasion that, at times, his humor went too far.

"All right, Reynolds. You got me there." Leslie fell into the nearest chair. "Just a lot of stuff on my mind. What if we can't repel the Kraan? What do we do if they get too far inland? What if, God forbid, our HQ is compromised? What sort of new monsters or weapons will they throw at us?"

Josh shrugged and smiled. "Well, whatever happens, you'll get us through it. You always do."

Again, Leslie flashed him a grin. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"That goes for all of us, Leslie," Niyati told her.

"Uh-huh," Swede chimed in.

Randy gave a barely perceptible nod.

They weren't butt-kissing, Josh knew. They had every confidence in Leslie as a leader. She had proven herself tough, resourceful and able to think on her feet. If she did have a fault, it had to do with her father, a colonel stationed at nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base. Sometimes Leslie tried too hard to prove herself worthy of the Berenguer family's tradition of military service, especially since she made the mistake, at least in her father's eyes, of being born a girl. Josh found it hard to believe that sort of chauvinism still existed in the 21st Century.

"Thanks." Leslie nodded to them. "But this is a team effort here. That's the only way we're gonna beat those slimebuckets. If we -"

A piercing, nasally klaxon blared through the HQ.

Josh held his breath. His heart almost hammered through his chest.

Leslie shot to her feet, staring up at the ceiling. "Athena, status."

The computer's soothing, female voice filled the air. "We have received an alert from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Kraan invasion fleet has been detected moving toward the Southern California Coast. Projected target area, Oceanside. Estimated time of arrival, fifty-seven minutes."

_**TO BE CONTINUED**_


	2. Chapter 2

Josh Reynolds hated this waiting.

He sat in Paladin's left arm cockpit, clad in his blue jumpsuit and sleek motorcycle helmet, the flashing control console in front of him. His Helmet-Mounted Display showed the beach outside, the sand and ocean turned phosphorescent green by night vision mode. Right now the water was calm. But any minute Kraan dreadnaughts would break the surface and begin their attack.

Any minute.

Any minute.

He grinded his teeth together, taking one long, slow breath after another. _Let's just get on with it._

Josh cursed himself for thinking that. Like he really wanted a million Kraan soldiers invading the United States?

But just sitting here, all he could do was think about what lay ahead for the Rangers.

He didn't like the thoughts his mind conjured up. He imagined Paladin a smoldering wreck on this beach outside Oceanside, the Kraan marching triumphantly toward San Diego and LA, and ultimately, throughout the rest of the country, the rest of the world. How many would die? Millions? Billions?

And what of his friends? Friends? After everything they'd been through his fellow Rangers were more like family. He shivered at the thought of them being killed. Leslie, Swede, Randy . . .

Niyati.

His stomach lurched at the prospect of her death.

And his actual family. His parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Would they all die if the Power Rangers failed?

Finally, he thought of his own death. Yeah, he knew there were any number of times over the past year when he could have cashed it in, but now, with an invasion force this huge, death had never seemed so real to him.

_I'm only seventeen._ He hadn't graduated from high school, gone to college, found someone special.

Josh swallowed, thinking of the Yellow Ranger sitting in Paladin's right arm.

_Niyati._

His lips trembled. He considered blurting out on Paladin's Internal Communications System how he really felt about her.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. This isn't how he wanted to do it. He wanted to tell her face-to-face, someplace where they could be alone. Not in their robot, with Leslie, Swede and Randy listening in.

_Why didn't I do this before? _Josh knew the answer. He felt Niyati to be out of his league. He worried she'd tell him something like, "We're just friends" or "I don't feel the same way about you." To hear that from her would crush him. How could he stand looking at her everyday, knowing he could never be with her?

Josh sighed, shaking his head. He had to get his mind off this. He linked his HMD to Paladin's external scanners, giving him a 360-degree view of what the military called "The LASDE Line," a combination of the initials for Los Angeles and San Diego. The beach had been torn up by trenches and foxholes. Marines from Camp Pendleton and soldiers from the California National Guard waited behind sandbag walls clutching assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank missiles. Off-shore, over a dozen US Navy frigates and destroyers and US Coast Guard cutters cut through the waves, guns and missiles at the ready.

Behind Paladin, parked on the streets, driveways and parking lots of this beachside community, sat M1 tanks and Bradley, Stryker and LAV-25 armored vehicles. Above them, ghostly white contrails stretched across the night sky as jet fighters and bombers orbited overhead, ready to pounce on the Kraan. And miles away sat battery upon battery of Army and Marine Corps artillery, primed to rain steel death upon the invaders.

_Will it be enough?_

Josh slumped in his seat, staring out at the Pacific.

Still no sign of the Kraan

He waited, and worried. Worried about screwing up during some critical point of the battle. Worried about the millions of people in LA and San Diego. Worried about his family. Worried about his fellow Rangers.

Worried about Niyati.

He closed his eyes, his head trembling. This was unbearable. Along with the waiting, he had to endure the silence. How long had it been since any of the other Rangers spoke? Josh wondered if they were all like him, lost in their own thoughts.

_Wonder what they're thinking?_

Could Leslie be wondering if her father was proud of her being part of the first line of defense against the Kraan?

Randy, no doubt, had to be anxious to kill Kraan.

Swede probably sat in Paladin's right leg cockpit taking the smallest bites possible out of his Swedish fish.

And Niyati. What must she be thinking –

"Sonar contact!" someone called out on the radio. "Multiple sonar contacts! Approximately ten miles from the coast and closing fast!"

"Okay, gang, this is it." Leslie's voice came through his headphones. Power up weapons and shields. Check status of neuro-links and nanite streams."

"All weapons on-line and ready to go," Josh reported.

"Shields at full power," stated Randy.

"All neuro-links connected," said Swede.

"Nanite streams flowing five-by-five," announced Niyati.

Flashes of red-orange caught Josh's attention. His HMD showed several contrails rising from the Navy ships, then arcing over and splashing into the ocean. ASROC anti-submarine rockets.

Thirty seconds later a huge fountain of water rose from the ocean. Then another. Another.

The battle was on.

"Get 'em," Randy growled through the ICS.

Heart pounding, Josh leaned forward in his seat, sweat forming on his brow. Not long now before the Power Rangers had their shot.

Shapes broke through the ocean, shapes like gigantic sea shells. First three, then six. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. Fifty.

Kraan dreadnaughts.

Missile plumes and muzzle flashes from guns lit up the Navy and Coast Guard ships. Paladin's external scanners picked up the shriek of artillery shells above them. Streaks of flame fell from the sky as Navy, Air Force and Marine warplanes launched their missiles.

Bolts of lightning arced from the dreadnaughts. The dark sky ignited in streaks of blue, orange and yellow.

"We might as well get in the act, too," said Leslie. "Rangers, deploy assigned weapons. Fire at will! Fire at will!"

Josh's hands flashed across the console. Within seconds six multi-barrel gatling guns emerged from Paladin's left arm. With a few taps on his touch-activated screen, he ordered the combat nanites to increase the size of each gun to fire five-inch rounds. Ammunition type, armor-piercing, high explosive.

More dreadnaughts surfaced. More artificial lightning bolts and tracers and missiles tore through the sky like a deadly fireworks display. Peering through his HMD's target scope, he saw five dreadnaughts already burning, along with six Navy and Coast Guard ships.

Josh clutched the joystick, settled the gun pipper over one dreadnaught, and squeezed the fire button.

Tremors rolled through Paladin's left arm as all six gatling guns fired with a deep buzz. Thousands of huge rounds tore through the sky, the tracers merging into one solid beam.

More tremors went through the big, boxy robot. Randy let loose with dozens of plasma-warhead missiles from Paladin's leg-mounted launchers. Niyati reared back the robot's right arm and threw huge, remote-controlled shurikens. Swede kept up a volley of fire from the long, tubular shoulder-mounted rail guns. Leslie fired volleys of particle beams from the eyes of Paladin's samurai helmet-shaped head.

Fountains of water shot up around the dreadnaught fleet. So did fountains of flame. Josh watched as volcanic explosions tore apart three Kraan vessels. Niyati's four-bladed shuriken spun through the sky and sliced through a pair of dreadnaughts before a lightning bolt blew it apart. Brief puffs of red and orange flashed in the sky as Kraan bolts connected with incoming missiles and shells. Trails of smoke and flame plunged into the ocean, the burning remains of US warplanes.

Josh gazed intently into his HMD's target scope. The fear, the worry that consumed him earlier had vanished. Only three thoughts dominated his mind.

Fight. Protect. Survive.

Teeth clenched, he swept Paladin's left arm back and forth, raking the Kraan invasion fleet.

More lightning bolts tore across the water and onto land. Long-since evacuated condos and beach houses vanished in fireballs, along with several armored vehicles.

More ships shot out of the water, much smaller than the dreadnaughts. Undulating, manta-shaped Death Knell fighters. US F-15s, F/A-18s and F-22s dove on them. Dozens of fiery contrails from Sidewinder and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles streaked through the night. Several Death Knells turned into miniature suns. Others let loose with electrical bolts. US jets exploded.

Josh raised Paladin's left arm and fired a split-second burst. Half-a-dozen Death Knells burst into confetti.

A sledgehammer blow rocked Paladin.

Josh grunted and pitched back and forth in his seat.

Another blow struck the robot. Then another.

"Rangers, check in!" Leslie ordered. "Everyone okay?"

To Josh's relief, everyone answered in the affirmative.

"Damage report," Leslie demanded.

It was Niyati who answered. "Minor hull and systems damage. The nanites are already on it. Shields holding strong. All weapons still online."

"Then keep fighting!" Leslie reinforced the order by firing Paladin's eye beams at a dreadnaught. A gusher of flame burst through its shell-like hull.

Josh aimed the gatling guns at another dreadnaught. He started to squeeze his finger.

The water burst two miles from shore. A huge snake-like shape rose toward the sky. Josh held his breath as he eyed it. The thing looked like a giant centipede, only with the head of a Chinese dragon, though a head more compact and prune-like.

"Great," he grumbled. "Oh well, I guess sooner or later they had to let loose one of their big monsters."

Another enormous form broke through the water, bulbous with a huge maw filled with long, needle-like teeth.

"Or two."

Another monster appeared, this one resembling a gigantic jellyfish that walked upright.

"Or three."

"Man," Swede moaned. "This ain't gonna be easy."

"Since when have we ever been in the easy business," Josh scoffed.

"Can the chatter!"

The bellow didn't come from Leslie. It belonged to General Perkins, USMC, and commander of the LASDE Line.

"Papa Romeo Five." He used the military's codename for the Power Rangers. "Engage the monsters. Leave the Kraan fleet to us."

"Yes, Sir," Leslie replied. "Rangers, switch weapons for melee attack."

A chorus of "Rogers" filled the ICS.

Josh reprogrammed the combat nanites. The gatling guns retracted, and a huge mace appeared in Paladin's left hand. A large katana protruded from the robot's right hand. Something tingled in the back of his mind. The neuro-link with the other Rangers.

Paladin's jet boots ignited. The giant robot soared over the beach, sword raised high above its head.

All three monsters roared as Paladin hit the water, bringing down its katana. The water centipede ducked under the swing and slammed against the robot's side. Josh rocked in his seat as the giant fish leapt at them.

A jolt went through his brain. His hands moved not of his own accord, but of Leslie's, who acted as Paladin's brain when they engaged in close quarters battle. The mace flashed across Paladin's chest. A shudder went through the left arm as it struck the fish. The monster twisted to the side and crashed into the water.

Two tentacles from the jellyfish wrapped around Paladin. Electric bursts ripped through the robot. Cracks and pops filled Josh's ears. His heart pounded rapidly as the smell of ozone wafted past his nostrils. All the lights in cockpit winked out. Panic gripped him for a split-second, then the lights came back on.

Again his hands leapt to the console. Paladin brought the mace down on the jellyfish. The centipede rammed its head into the robot's side. The mace swung toward the monster, just missing it. Paladin thrust out the katana, cutting into three of the jellyfish's tentacles. The fish charged toward them. A sidekick stopped it.

Particle beams shot out Paladin's eyes. Flames tore through the jellyfish's thick, clear torso. Gobs of smoldering, pinkish slime splattered against Paladin. The monster's hold slacked as it collapsed into the water.

The fish jumped at Paladin. Josh grunted as a quake went through the cockpit. He heard metal rending as the energy shields strained against the fish's sharp teeth. Paladin pounded the monster's head with the katana's hilt. Leslie turned the robot's head toward the fish, ready for another beam attack.

The centipede reared back and dove at Paladin's head. A horrendous _thud_ reverberated throughout the robot. Josh's harness kept him from being thrown into the console. His head rattled. The neuro-link faded for a second. He felt Leslie's consciousness blur. She was still alive, but shaken. He also sensed damage to the eye beams.

He linked quickly to the scanners. The centipede stood behind them, dazed from its head-butt.

Josh sensed Leslie. She was still out of it. Biting his lip, he scanned the centipede again as the fish released its hold on Paladin after numerous blows. An idea formed. His usual idea. One that involved brute force.

He sent a thought to Swede in Paladin's left leg. A second later the robot bent over and delivered a mule kick to the centipede. It jerked and fell backwards, slamming into the water.

Niyati picked it up from there. With her neuro-link, she swung Paladin around and plunged the katana through the water and into the centipede. The monster spasmed for several seconds, then floated lifelessly under the waves.

Paladin twisted again, swinging the mace backhanded. It crashed against the fish's side, stunning it for a moment. The monster turned and roared, its mouth opened wide.

"All right." Josh's eyes narrowed. "No more Mr. Nice Guy."

He ordered the nanites to retract the mace. The six gatling guns sprouted from Paladin's left arm. He adjusted the size of the weapons to fire 14-inch armor piercing rounds.

"Say aaaaaaaah!"

He stuck Paladin's arm right in front of the monster's mouth and fired. The entire rear of the giant fish exploded in a cloud of dark pink. It collapsed, almost looking deflated.

"Yeah!" Josh pumped a fist.

Cheers from the other Rangers burst over the ICS.

"Boss," he called out to Leslie. "You still with us?"

The pause felt like an eternity. Just as worry began to build, he heard Leslie growl, "Yeah, I'll live."

"Hey!" Randy hollered. "We've got Kraan on the beach."

Josh used his HMD to access Paladin's scanners. They zoomed into the shoreline. Hundreds of Kraan troopers sprinted out of the waves. Most had to be over six-feet-tall, with thick brown leathery skin and wrinkled, triangular faces sporting numerous bluish-white circles. He picked out one Kraan looking left to right at his comrades, the circles on his face giving off quick flashes.

Even after fighting them for a year, he still couldn't get over the fact that was how the Kraan communicated.

More objects emerged from the water, spherical and covered with stubby protrusions.

Kraan Warmonger tanks.

Lightning spat from the protrusions. Kraan soldiers raised their arms, electrical bolts shooting from a large, spongy device mounted on the back of their hands.

Hundreds of orange strobes flickered up and down the US trenches. Contrails from missiles flew across the beach. M1 Abrams tanks rocked with the firing of their 120mm guns.

Kraan soldiers dropped to the sand like puppets with their strings cut. Several Warmongers erupted in flames.

Lightning bolts sliced into the American lines. Sandbag walls exploded. Bodies spiraled through the air. Flames gushed from several tanks and armored personnel carriers.

"C'mon, guys." Leslie still sounded a bit groggy. "Let's get back to the beach to -"

A huge fountain of water sprang up a hundred feet away. Another monster appeared, this one round with six legs, two eyestalks, and huge pincers.

Josh scowled. "Or let's stay here and fight another monster."

They did. And another, and another. Every time the Power Rangers defeated one huge sea creature, another would take its place. The nanites worked overtime to repair the damage Paladin. Yet they did it, and the Rangers kept fighting, leaving the sea floor littered with dead and dying monsters.

The Marines and National Guard also held their own. Thousands of Kraan had stormed the beach, backed up by numerous Warmongers. But a never-ending barrage of lead kept the invaders from advancing more than a few yards from the waves. So many dead Kraan littered the beach that the ones still alive stacked the bodies to use for cover.

The Marines and Guardsmen also suffered heavy casualties, but a check of the command net showed reinforcements starting to pour into Oceanside. An entire brigade from the 82nd Airborne parachuted from C-17 transports, floating down a few miles from the front line. Two armored divisions rolled down the highways toward the beach, backed up by four squadrons of Apache and Super Cobra attack helicopters. High above them, B-52, B-1 and B-2 bombers converged on the LASDE Line, launching cruise missiles and JDAMs at the dreadnaughts. Out to sea, thirty cruisers, frigates, destroyers and Coast Guard cutters headed toward the Kraan fleet. Further out, over a hundred fifty F/A-18s from the carriers _Eisenhower, Truman _and _Washington _streaked toward the battle area.

Paladin slashedand stabbed and punched and kicked every monster that attacked it. Whenever he could, Josh checked on the beach. It was a collage of muzzle flashes, lightning and fireballs. Still, the Kraan could barely push forward. He allowed himself a quick smile. Maybe they did have a chance at stopping this invasion.

Paladin continued to fight, and defeat, every monster the Kraan sent at it. Missiles and shells slammed into several dreadnaughts, sending many to the bottom forever. In the sky, human and Kraan fighters twisted and turned and fought. Every few seconds an aircraft vanished in a red-orange puff, flaming debris tumbling into the ocean.

Another eruption of water occurred a half-mile away. Paladin crouched, mace and katana ready for another monster.

Instead another seashell-shaped vessel appeared. This one appeared half the size of a dreadnaught with a pointy nose.

It also flew!

"Wow!" Josh watched the ship soar over the Pacific. "They got a Super Atragon."

"A what?" asked a bewildered Swede.

"_Super Atragon._ It's this anime about a flying submarine that -"

"Who cares!?" Leslie snapped. "Just sh-"

The air shimmered around the flying ship. It then expanded, a clear, undulating pulse that swept over the water, over Paladin, and over the beach.

"What the hell was that?" Swede blurted.

"Niyati, systems check!" Leslie ordered.

The Yellow Ranger answered seconds later. "All systems operational. Whatever it was, it didn't have any affect on us."

"Good," Leslie said. "Now shoot that thing down, Josh!"

"As you command, oh captain, my captain."

He raised Paladin's let arm and reprogrammed the gatling guns to fire 8-inch armor-piercing rounds. Those ought to be more than good enough to bring that sucker down.

He placed the gun pipper in front of the ship, leading it. Paladin's quantum computers compiled trajectory, wind and target speed in less than the blink of an eye and cleared him to fire.

"_Hasta la vista, _baby."

Josh squeezed the fire button.

The gatling guns buzzed. A thick stream of tracers flashed through the sky. A smile spread across his face as he watched the thousands of rounds connect with the ship.

But it didn't blow up.

"What the . . ." His brow furrowed. The ship should be little itty bitty pieces by now.

A flash caught his eye. Fear turned his body to ice.

The tracers were coming back at Paladin!

"Holy s-"

A horrific blast slammed into Josh's ears and pierced his skull. The air exploded from his lungs as he was thrown against his harness. Quakes rattled Paladin. Josh pitched forward, to the right, to the left, then forward again. More explosions filled the air.

"Shields failing!" Randy shouted. "Shields failing!"

"Neuro link gone!" This from Niyati.

"Severe hull damage!" Swede yelled.

Josh wheezed, trying to refill his lungs. He checked his console. Half his controls and screens had gone dark.

"I've got multiple systems failures," he reported. "Gatling guns not responding! Targeting system down!"

"What the hell hit us?" Leslie demanded to know.

Josh's eyes widened. "Oh hell. Leslie, I think . . . I swear I think our own gatling rounds hit us!"

"What!? How is that possible?"

"Leslie," Niyati chimed in. "I've got some of our scanners working. There's a lot of electromagnetic activity all around us. Readings are off the scale. It's like we're in the middle of some huge . . . Oh my God! Guys, look at the beach."

Josh pulled up a scanner link on his Helmet-Mounted Display.

His jaw dropped.

Tracers from the Marines and soldiers curved around in mid-air in front of the Kraan infantry and streaked back toward the American lines. A pair of Bradley fighting vehicles launched anti-tank missiles, only to have those missiles turn back and blown them apart.

In the air, missiles barreling toward the Kraan dreadnaughts suddenly turned around hit the jets and ships that had fired them.

"What the hell is going on?" Randy raged.

"They're . . ." Swede swallowed audibly. "They're using our own weapons against us."

"How?" Randy hollered. "How can those scumbags do that?"

If Swede had an answer, he never got to give it. Three lightning bolts from Kraan dreadnaughts struck Paladin. Another massive quake shook the robot. Josh was thrown against his harness, and feared it would rip him apart. Paladin stumbled backwards, but, by some miracle, remained on its feet.

"Shields are gone!" Niyati reported. "Nanites are reinforcing the hull."

"Yeah, what's left of it," Swede grunted. "We've got fires throughout the torso. Power output down to fifty percent."

Another lightning strike rocked Paladin.

"Dammit!" Leslie cried out. "I just lost flight control systems. Wait! Left shoulder rail gun is still functional. We can -"

"No, Leslie!" Niyati cut her off. "Anything we fire at the Kraan is going to come back and hit us! We can't take much more damage!"

Another bolt tore out a chunk of Paladin's side.

Josh's heart tried to pound through his chest. Cold sweat coated his body. _Oh my God, oh my God._ Was this it? Were they all going to die here?

Shock replaced his fear, shock at the words Leslie spoke. Words he never, ever imagined the Red Ranger would utter.

"Power Rangers . . . retreat!"

_**TO BE CONTINUED**_


	3. Chapter 3

Josh Reynolds was pissed off.

He stood in the Power Rangers' command center, scowling, arms folded, watching the 3-D screen in front of him as they reviewed the sensor logs from the disastrous battle at Oceanside. A battle they lost.

He snorted to himself. He hated losing. All athletes did. Of course, there was more at stake here than a trip to the playoffs.

In fact, the word "lost" didn't seem appropriate here. A proper term would be "failed." The day the Keepers of the Light made him a Ranger, he had sworn to do everything in his power to protect the human race from the Kraan.

He had failed. They had failed.

And all they could do now was sit safe and sound in their headquarters while the Kraan landed more troops by the minute, unable to do a damn thing about it!

That pissed him off even more.

_We're Power Rangers. We're supposed to fight the bad guys, not hide from them._

But how could they fight an enemy they couldn't touch?

"From everything I've been able to gather from our scanners," Swede said, staring at the undulating blue waves and rows of equations filling the large monitor in front of him. "That big flying ship of theirs put out some sort of electromagnetic field, a kind I've never seen before."

"So that's what was throwing our shells and missiles back at us?" Leslie rested a hand on the back of Swede's chair and stared down at him.

He nodded. "From what the analysis shows, whenever a bullet or missile or any sort of projectile makes contact with the field, it emits a pulse that retraces the projectile's trajectory, then sends it back on that same trajectory and takes out the weapon system that fired it."

"Along with the people using it." Leslie's face tightened in anger.

The veins in Swede's neck stuck out in response to his oversight. "Um, yeah. The people, too." He shook his head. "Man, this is some seriously advanced energy manipulation."

"So how do we counter it?" Randy eyed his fellow Rangers with a determined look.

Swede chewed on his lower lip. "I don't know," he muttered under his breath.

Leslie gripped the back of Swede's chair tighter. Her gaze stayed locked with Randy's.

Josh's chest tightened. He expected her to come up with some plan. After all, Leslie was a freakin' genius in strategy and tactics. She probably had it in her DNA since her family could trace its military roots back to a _Tejano _who fought alongside Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie and the rest at the Alamo.

Leslie's chest heaved. She cast her gaze to the smooth obsidian floor. "I'm sure there's some way around that energy field."

"That's it?" Randy threw his arms out and turned away from them. He stomped alongside a bank of control consoles. Suddenly he stopped and began stabbing at buttons. Several monitors winked to life, showing news broadcasts from FOX News, CNN, and a couple local TV stations out of Los Angeles.

Randy swung back to them, his face twisted in anger. "And while we're standing around here doing nothing, look what's happening."

The other Rangers looked at the monitors. Josh clenched his jaw as he watched flames and smoke stain the skylines of LA and San Diego. One station broadcast the image of a huge, armor-plated, beaked monster smashing its way through Anaheim. Another station showed an overhead shot, probably from the top of a building, of a group of Kraan warriors darting through a city street, electric bolts shooting from their hands, blowing up parked vehicles and storefronts.

Nowhere did he see the U.S. military fighting them. How could they? Whatever they shot at the Kraan would come back and destroy them.

Leslie sighed harshly. "I don't like it any more than you, Randy. But going out there and just getting hit with our own weapons won't do us any good. Besides, if we are going to do anything to try and stop this invasion, we're going to need Paladin, and as good as the nanites are, it's going to take them a while to repair it."

Randy's scowl grew more severe. Josh frowned. Surely the Black Ranger had to see the logic in Leslie's statement. Then again, what did logic matter to a kid driven by revenge?

Randy's mouth started to open, primed for another rebuttal.

Niyati, thankfully, headed off any potential blow-up. "What I don't get is why the Kraan didn't use that flying ship when they first showed up in Oceanside? I mean, how many of their soldiers and monsters were killed before they set up that electromagnetic field?"

"I've been thinking about that myself," said Leslie. "Especially since they only invaded one beach at the time, instead of hitting multiple ones like the Allies did at D-Day. They probably wanted the military to concentrate their reinforcements in one specific area. Fight a kind of holding action, lure as many of our forces to Oceanside as possible, then use that energy field to protect their troops while wiping out the bulk of our Southern California forces in one fell swoop."

"Why even bother with an elaborate plan like that?" asked Niyati. "Whether it's Oceanside or Los Angeles or San Francisco, they'd still be able to attack our military with impunity."

Leslie worked her jaw back and forth. "It could be psychological. Consider the Gulf War back in 1991. Most people thought the Coalition won because they blew up lots of Saddam's tanks and artillery and jets. The truth is, the Coalition won because their constant bombing of the Iraqi military broke their will to fight long before the ground war began. Think about Oceanside. We thought we were kicking the Kraan's asses. We had lots of reinforcement coming in, and we really believed we were going to win. Then just like that . . ." She snapped her fingers. "The Kraan turn the tables and kicked our asses big time. That kind of psychological blow can be difficult to get over."

"Leslie's right." Josh nodded. "It's just like in sports. Morale, mental approach, they're all critical to how you perform on the field. Yogi Berra said it best. 'Ninety percent of this game is half-mental.'"

Niyati's jaw dropped. "What kind of insane statement is that? Who the heck is this Yogi Berra?"

"He was a catcher for the New York Yankees back in the 1950s. Came up with all sorts of cool quotes."

The Yellow Ranger just stared at him, looking stunned.

"Anyway," Leslie said. "There's nothing much we can do until Paladin's repairs are done. I suggest we head to the cafeteria and get something to eat."

"Eat!?" Randy blurted. "The Kraan are blowing apart Southern California, and you want to have a cheeseburger?"

Leslie's brow wrinkled in anger. "Letting ourselves starve won't stop the Kraan. We've got a long fight ahead of us and we need to keep up our strength. So we're all going to the cafeteria and getting something to eat."

"You can go. I'm staying in the Command Center to find a way we can get through that energy field and kill the damn Kraan!"

Leslie's eyes narrowed. She took a threatening step toward the Black Ranger.

Niyati reached out and grasped Leslie's wrist. She turned to the Yellow Ranger, who shook her head.

Leslie's harsh expression softened a bit. She probably realized that sometimes it was best to leave Randy alone to brood.

Without a sound, Leslie stomped out of the command center. Niyati gave Randy a sympathetic smile before she, Josh and Swede followed their leader.

Minutes later the four Rangers entered the base's cafeteria, with its faded blue carpeting, circular tables, and a serving line tended to by a thin, oval-headed robot with four spider-like arms. The wall behind Melvin the foodbot had a video display screen showing the menu for today.

"Two chicken tacos, nachos, a Coke and a cherry pie," Josh ordered.

Melvin repeated the order in his metallic, croaking voice. One of his appendages tapped a screen embedded in the serving line. It flashed. A minute later part of the counter slid back, revealing a tray with Josh's meal.

"Thanks, Melvin."

"You are welcome Blue Ranger Josh Reynolds. I have monitored the invasion. You will defeat the Kraan, will you not?"

Josh gave the foodbot a half-smile. "We better."

"I am sure you will. I have faith in the Power Rangers."

He nodded to Melvin and turned around. "Glad someone does," he muttered.

He scanned the cafeteria. Leslie sat at a table by herself, staring at her food. Josh prayed her mind was working on a solution to get through that Kraan energy field. Lord knew he wasn't going to come up with any sort of solution.

Swede also sat by himself, not touching his hamburger. Instead a Swedish Fish dangled from his lips. The Green Ranger didn't even chew it. The veins in Josh's neck stood out. If Swede nibbled on Swedish Fish when he was nervous, what did it mean if he didn't even eat them?

Then his eyes rested on Niyati. She, too, sat alone, taking small bites of her Cesar Chicken Salad. Swallowing, he walked over to her table.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Niyati looked up. "No, of course not."

A tingle went through him as he sat next to her and took a bite out of one of his tacos. A minute of silence passed before Niyati spoke. "I'm not used to this."

Josh didn't have to ask what she meant by that. "I know what you mean. I feel like we're letting down everyone sitting here while the Kraan are blowing up half the state."

Niyati slowly rubbed her fork between her thumb and index fingers. "I have been thinking and thinking, trying to come up with some way to neutralize that energy field, but . . ." Her shoulders sagged. "All my life, people told me how smart I was. Niyati, the straight A student. Niyati, the state science fair winner for three straight years. Niyati, who has schools like Stanford and Harvard and Princeton fighting over her. Yeah, all those brains, and I haven't been able to come up with a damn thing."

"You will." He reached across the table and took hold of Niyati's free hand. She glanced down at their intertwined fingers, then looked to him.

Josh held his breath for a moment before speaking. "You will, or Leslie will, or Swede will. I mean, we're the Power Rangers. We've been through tough times before, and we've always come out on top. This time won't be any different."

Slowly, a smile spread across Niyati's face. "Thanks, Josh."

"Any time." He forced a smile himself, all the while trying to believe his own words.

The two ate in relative silence. When they finished, they started to get up to dispose of their trays when Leslie came over with a tray containing a chicken salad sandwich, chips and a Mountain Dew.

"Guys, please take this to Randy. I want to make sure he eats, even if we have to shove food down his throat. I'm going to the White Room to consult with the Keepers of the Light. Maybe they have some advice on how we can stop the Kraan."

"Sure thing, Boss," Josh answered.

After disposing of his trash, he took the tray from Leslie and left the cafeteria, Niyati following him. When they got to the command center, they found Randy staring intently at a row of monitors, some showing news footage of the Kraan advance, others displaying images from the Battle of Oceanside.

"Yo, Randy. Lunchtime." Josh put the tray on the console.

"Thanks." The Black Ranger never took his eyes off the monitors.

"Um, dude. Leslie's not gonna be happy if you don't eat. You really wanna deal with an unhappy Leslie?"

Randy snorted. He snatched the sandwich and bit into it. "There," he said while chewing. "Happy?"

Josh sighed and turned to Niyati, who shrugged her shoulders. She then nodded to one of the seats in front of the monitors and started toward it. He gave her a puzzled look.

She stepped over to him, put a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "I think we should give Randy a hand looking through this footage."

Electric jolts shot through his body as he felt Niyati's warm breath wash over his ear.

She continued. "If nothing else, maybe showing him a little support will cheer him up."

Josh frowned. That was overly optimistic. Usually just one thing cheered up Randy. Dead Kraan.

Still he humored Niyati and sat next to her, gazing at one piece of footage after another. Nothing he saw struck him as odd or strategically important. He watched missiles and shells reverse direction and blow up the planes and tanks that fired them. He saw mobs of people running through the streets of LA and San Diego, trying to get away from Kraan soldiers and their giant monsters. He watched buildings crumble and whole blocks go up in flame. Every image stoked the rage burning inside him.

_Try to find something._

_Like what?_

_Anything!_

His teeth grinded. Nothing on the screens could help the Power Rangers or the rest of humanity. All he saw was the Kraan destroying everything in their path.

Josh slouched in his seat as he watched a pretty blond reporter from one of the San Diego TV stations kneeling on a street corner, smoke drifting through the background. Somehow, the woman kept her composure as she talked about police and military personnel setting vehicles afire and using explosives to crater streets to slow the Kraan advance.

_Yeah, looks like that's working._

Over her shoulder, Josh spotted a man decked out in the black fatigues and goggled helmet of a SWAT cop down the street, firing tear gas canisters from a tubular launcher. Suddenly a Kraan soldier burst through the smoke and charged the officer. The cop dropped his launcher and yanked out his nightstick. The reporter, probably getting a signal from her cameraman, turned around just as the cop swung. The woman's body blocked what happened next. Not that it mattered. Josh knew nothing would . . .

His eyes widened at what he saw next. He leaned forward in his chair, brow furrowed. Had his eyes played a trick on him?

"Athena. Rewind the footage I'm watching here by fifteen seconds."

"Rewinding image fifteen seconds," replied the female computer voice.

Josh watched it again, and a third time, just to be sure.

"No way," he stammered.

"What's up?" Niyati turned to him. So did Randy.

"Check this out." He waited until the other two Rangers stood on either side of him, then played back the tape, stopping it just as the Kraan charged the officer.

"Athena. Enlarge this section here." Josh used his finger to trace a square around the SWAT cop.

The three watched the man swing his nightstick.

"Stop. Now, enlarge this section here." He traced a square around the screen's lower left hand corner, then turned to Niyati and Randy. "Now tell me what you see. Resume play."

Seconds later, Niyati's jaw dropped. Randy straightened, his face stiffening. "Oh my God. Did that cop just . . ."

"Yes he did." Josh lifted his head to the ceiling. "Athena. Open a comm link to the White Room."

"Comm link to White Room."

"Leslie. It's Josh. You there?"

"Leslie here. What is it?"

"You need to get Swede and come to the command center. We've got something to show you."

A few minutes later, Leslie and Swede arrived. Josh played the news footage, then said, "Now keep your eye on the Kraan trooper here." He enlarged the section as Leslie and Swede leaned closer.

"Wait a minute." Leslie spoke in a breathless tone. "That Kraan's holding his head. That cop hit him. He actually made contact with him."

"I still don't understand how that's possible." Niyati shook her head. "Why didn't that officer's nightstick just bounce back and hit him in the face?"

Swede held up a finger, shaking it back and forth. "I think I got a theory. This energy field the Kraan have isn't like a traditional forcefield, which is designed to absorb impacts. This one deflects the attack and sends the weapon back to where it came from. And since that police officer didn't get a faceful of nightstick, I think the Kraan only have this field set up to deal with high-velocity projectile attacks, I'd suspect even direct-energy weapons, too, just for us."

"So they can stop shells and missiles, but not a club?" Niyati canted her head. "Why would the Kraan leave themselves vulnerable to that?"

"In modern warfare," Leslie answered, "hand-to-hand combat is extremely rare. Heck, even during the American Revolution and the Civil War there wasn't as much hand-to-hand fighting as most people think. Bullets and missiles are much bigger threats than a bayonet or a fist. Besides, what if a Kraan trooper needs to throw some piece of equipment to a buddy, or what if he needs to slap him on the shoulder to get his attention during battle? Also, we know Kraan officers don't mind disciplining their troopers by busting them in the face. They wouldn't want their own fist hitting them, would they?"

"Cool." Randy nodded. "Then let's get out there and crack some Kraan skulls."

Leslie closed her eyes in exasperation for a moment. "It's one thing for us to go hand-to-hand with a couple dozen Kraan commandoes. But against thousands, tens of thousands? Even with all our individual powers, we'd be overwhelmed. It's like those old Soviet military leaders liked to say. 'Quantity has a quality all its own.' No. If we're going to take on the Kraan again, we'll need Paladin to do it."

"For all the good it'll do." Swede frowned. "We won't be able to use any of its weapons."

"Yes we will," Josh blurted.

Swede turned to him. "Whadya mean?"

"Gatling guns and missiles aren't the only weapons Paladin has. We can use swords, maces, battle axes. Hell, we can just use Paladin's fists and feet and go totally Japanese monster movie on the Kraan. Smash 'em, bash 'em and thrash 'em until they're just a bunch of bloody smears on the ground."

"I'm all for that," Randy barked, tacking on a rare smile.

"Sounds like a plan to me buddy." Swede nodded.

"It beats sitting around HQ and doing nothing." Niyati grinned at him. "Looks like this is one time brawn may triumph over brains. Good going, Josh."

"Thanks." His heartbeat sped up. Taking a deep breath, he looked to Leslie. "What say you, Boss?"

The Red Ranger folded her arms and gazed at them. She slowly worked her jaw back and forth, then said, "This might be the only shot we have at stopping the Kraan. I say it's time for . . . Operation: Brute Force." She flashed Josh a quick smile.

He couldn't remember standing as straight as he did at that moment. Chest swelled, he took in his teammates. "Well, gang. It looks like the Power Rangers are back in business."

_**TO BE CONTINUED**_


	4. Chapter 4

Josh Reynolds was anxious.

Actually, a mix of emotions swirled inside him. Anxious. Nervous. Worried. Scared.

Sweat soaked through his gloves as he sat in the cockpit of Paladin's left arm. He wanted to get this fight started with the Kraan, kick their slimy butts back into the ocean. But doubt battered his mind. Would his plan work? What if the Kraan knew about the flaw in their shield and fixed it? What if he and his fellow Rangers simply failed? It was just them against the entire Kraan invasion force. If they couldn't overcome those odds and destroy the ship generating the electromagnetic repulsing field, what chance would the rest of the country, the rest of the world have? The only choice the world's soldiers and marines would have would be bayonet charges. Like that would work against lightning bolt spitting guns and tanks.

_And big monsters. _He couldn't forget those big monsters.

Josh's heartbeat became deafening. As always seemed the case, everything depended on the Power Rangers.

Paladin marched across the San Gabriel Mountains. Josh's eyes flickered from the pine trees and peaks outside to the scanner readings in his Helmet-Mounted Display. Swede had easily traced the electromagnetic pulse back to the Kraan flying ship, or _Bad Atragon_ as the Rangers dubbed it per his suggestion. It had taken up position about 25 miles away, surrounded by lots of Kraan soldiers, tanks, warplanes and giant monsters.

This wouldn't be easy.

_Since when do we get the easy missions?_

Paladin's long strides covered the twenty-plus miles quickly. Before long the Rangers could see _Bad Atragon _and the rest of the Kraan force with, as Leslie liked to say, their "Mark One Eyeballs."

Josh swallowed as he took in the enemy. Kraan soldiers and tanks stretched from one end of the valley to the other. Half-a-dozen giant monsters plodded behind them. Dozens of Death Knell fighters circled above them, surrounding _Bad Atragon._

Every hair on Josh's sweat covered body stood on end. _That's a lot of freakin' bad guys._

He expected to hear some encouraging words from Leslie, some last minute pep talk like Coach would give before a game.

None came. They had their pep talk before they left HQ. Besides, if the survival of the human race couldn't motivate you, what would?

All the Red Ranger said was, "Power Rangers . . . CHARGE!!!"

Katana in right hand, mace in left hand, Paladin hurtled toward the Kraan, trees and boulders crushed flat under its feet.

The Kraan wasted no time. Dozens of lightning bolts tore across the air. Josh clenched his teeth just as a quake rattled Paladin. Somehow, the giant robot stayed on its feet.

"Forward shields down to eight-nine percent," Niyati reported.

Paladin continued running toward the Kraan force. Lightning bolts slammed into the robot's torso. Anger overtook Josh's fear. He was tired of getting pounded by Kraan fire. He wanted to do some pounding of his own.

Paladin drew closer with the Kraan force. Closer . . . closer.

He drew back Paladin's left arm and brought down the mace.

_Please work._

The mace slammed into the ground. He quickly lifted it and checked the damage. His eyes widened. The crushed forms of three Warmonger tanks and several Kraan troopers laid in the crater.

"It worked!" Josh cried out.

"Yes!" Niyati cheered.

"Pound 'em!" Randy hollered. "Pound these scum!"

The mace and sword and feet fell on the Kraan ranks. The Rangers ignored lightning bolts striking Paladin's armor and kept smashing and crushing. Josh saw pockets of Kraan troopers running away. A swing of the mace or the stomp of a foot ended their retreat.

Death Knell fighters dove on Paladin. The robot shook from one lightning strike after another. Teeth bared, Josh swung Paladin's left arm. Manta-shaped aircraft shattered or spun out of control into the ground.

A large, bulbous monster with thick green scales rushed toward Paladin. Josh's hands flew across the console as his neurolink picked up Leslie's commands.

The mace rammed into the monster's armpit. A knee to the gut followed. Niyati finished it off by running the katana through its chest.

A second, serpent-like monster slithered toward them. The nanites retracted the mace and katana. Just as the serpent shot its head forward, Josh and Niyati wrapped Paladin's hands around the monster's neck. With a quick twist, they broke its neck. Paladin then swung the dead serpent in a 360. Tanks flipped across the ground and troopers flew through the air as the monster's tail struck them.

Paladin flung the serpent away. Josh punched two Death Knell fighters out of the sky when Niyati called out. "_Bad Atragon's_ turning west. It looks like it's trying to retreat."

"Like hell," Leslie growled. "C'mon, Rangers!"

Paladin ran through the shattered Kraan force, cutting down another monster with its katana. The robot crouched and leapt into the air. Tongues of flame gushed from its jet boots. Lightning bolts from the surviving Death Knells pelted the robot. Josh clenched his jaw, ignoring the tremors. His entire focus was on _Bad Atragon. _It grew larger, soon filling his entire vision.

Paladin soared over the top of the flying ship and landed near its rear. Josh suddenly noticed no more lightning bolts struck them.

_The Kraan probably don't want to risk hitting their ship._

"So where's the pulse generator at?" Randy asked.

"I can't tell," Swede replied. "The electromagnetic readings are so high I can't get an exact fix."

"Who cares?" Josh snapped. "Just bash this thing until it falls apart!"

He drew back Paladin's arm, ready to bring down the mace.

"We've got company!" Leslie blurted.

Josh looked up. An oblong creature with triangular wings, huge ink black eyes, a circular, teeth-filled mouth and stumpy legs landed near the front of _Bad Atragon._ It unleashed an ear-piercing shriek and stomped across the humped hull of the ship.

Paladin brought up its mace and katana.

Two holes opened in the monster's torso. Thick gray tentacles shot out. Josh batted one away, while Niyati chopped off the other one. The monster shrieked again . . . and unleashed two more tentacles at them.

"Oh come on!" Josh knocked one tentacle away. Then another, and another. Niyati sliced off another tentacle.

"Come on!" Randy yelled. "Kill this thing so we can destroy this ship!"

"What'd ya think we're trying to do? Dance with it?" Josh knocked away one tentacle. He swung at another, only to have it dodge his blow. The tentacle latched on to Paladin's left foot. A flash of blue coursed through the limb. Sparks and flames exploded from the foot. Swede yelped in panic.

"Swede!" Leslie yelled. "Are you -"

Another tentacle attached to Paladin's torso. Josh tensed, his jaw tightening as the robot shook. The lights in the cockpit flashed on and off. The smell of smoke wafted past his nose.

An explosion rocked Paladin. The breath caught in Josh's throat as the robot toppled backward. Another jolt went through Paladin, tossing Josh around in his chair. Then he felt another sensation. Sliding. With a thought he tapped into the scanners. Ice filled his chest.

They were sliding down the curved side of _Bad Atragon._

"Jets! Jets!" Leslie ordered.

"Left jets are fried," a groggy Swede answered. "Attitude control's gone."

"Shields are nearly gone." A quiver entered Niyati's voice. "We've got massive hull damage."

Josh's throat constricted as they neared the edge of the ship. Could they survive the fall? Maybe. But what about the remaining Kraan forces down below? They'd be at their mercy. More importantly, what about the rest of humanity? How could they beat the Kraan with _Bad Atragon _still functional?

The hilly, green-brown landscape stretched out below them. He stared at it with fearful, unblinking eyes.

The neurolink tingled. It was Leslie. His hands reached out to the console. Paladin let go of the mace, lifted its left hand, and rammed its fingers through the hardened shell of _Bad Atragon. _The right hand also dug into the hull. Paladin's slide slowed, then stopped. Its feet dangled over the side.

Josh let out a long, _long _sigh of relief.

That's when the monster appeared above them.

"Oh crap!" he blurted.

"I got this." The instant Leslie said that, her plan filtered through the Rangers' neurolinks.

It made Josh smile.

The monster roared again. A tentacle shot out its torso at Paladin's right hand.

The robot's fingers came out of the groves. At the very last instant they wrapped around the tentacle. Josh heard Niyati grunt as she yanked Paladin's right arm back.

The monster stumbled toward them. Niyati brought the right arm forward, driving the tentacle into the monster's body. A blue flash erupted. The monster wailed, to the point Josh winced.

Niyati released her hold on the tentacle. The monster's limp form tumbled past Paladin and plummeted toward the ground.

Paladin sank its fingers into _Bad Atragon's _hull, climbing back to the top and standing.

"So what now?" asked Swede.

"Now, we do . . . this!" Josh drew back Paladin's left fist and drove it through the hull. Pieces of beige shell spiraled through the air around them. He punched the hull again and again. Niyati also joined him in reigning blows on _Bad Atragon._ Holes and wide cracks marred the hole. A loud grinding and ripping sound rose around them.

"What the heck's th-"

_Bad Atragon_ broke in two before Swede could finish that sentence. Josh's stomach shot into his mouth as Paladin fell from the sky.

The world spun. He heard screams. His friends? His own? A jumble of signals clogged his neurolink. Some were commands. Others were pure fear.

He sensed the right jet boot firing. Were they slowing down? He couldn't tell.

_Niyati, I'm sorry. I really care abo-_

A roar. A quake. Josh felt something try to rip his body apart.

Suddenly all was still.

He blinked, then grimaced. Every inch of his body hurt.

_Am I alive?_

Groaning, he tried to straighten out in his seat. He moved his arms and his legs. Sore, but it didn't feel like anything was broken. He took a wheezy breath, and six others before he could finally take in air normally.

Fear exploded in his mind.

"Niyati! Swede! Leslie! Randy! You guys okay?"

No answer.

A cold, dark mass of panic grew in his chest. No. No way! They can't be . . .

_Don't say it. Don't think it._

_Niyati._

"I'm okay," Randy croaked. "I'm okay."

Relief flooded Josh.

"I'm still alive and kicking, too," Leslie said.

"I'm good, sorta," Swede groaned. "I think I broke my leg."

A smile formed on Josh's face. He just waited to hear from Niyati.

And waited.

"Niyati?" he radioed her. "Niyati, are you all right?"

No response.

Tremors wracked his body.

"Niyati!"

"Hey!" Randy hollered. "We've got Kraan coming!"

Josh tapped into the scanners. Off-line. He leaned forward and stared out the canopy. Sure enough, here came a line of Kraan tanks, accompanied by numerous moving dots. Troopers, no doubt.

He also realized Paladin was flat on its back.

"Swede," Leslie barked. "Any sign of that electromagnetic field?"

"No way to tell. The scanners are all down."

"Randy, weapons status."

Several seconds passed before Randy replied, "Crap! Everything's down! Missiles, rail guns, particle beams, gatling gu . . . wait a sec! Josh. You have two gatlings still functional."

"Good!" Leslie blurted. "All right, Blue Ranger. Take 'em down!"

Josh didn't move a muscle. _What about Niyati? Is she all right? She can't be . . . be . . ._

"Josh! What are you waiting for!? Shoot those slimebuckets!"

Leslie's shouts made him jump. His hand gripped the triggerstick. He programmed the nanites to expand the two remaining gatling guns to fire 5-inch shells.

_Niyati. She has to be all right._

A lightning bolt rocked Paladin. Another. Another.

_None of us are going to be all right if you don't shoot those scumbags._

He checked the targeting scanners. Off-line. He'd have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Paladin's left arm rose. Josh tensed, wondering if _Bad Atragon's _destruction truly did put an end to the electromagnetic defense shield.

_Time to find out._

He squeezed the trigger. Lines of yellow tracers streaked from Paladin's arm. He braced himself, fearing those 5-inch shells might turn around and tear into the robot. Could they survive a hit like that?

Fountains of dirt and flame rose amidst the Kraan ranks.

"Yes!" Josh kept his finger down on the trigger, sweeping the gatling guns back and forth.

Just beyond the explosions came another line of Kraan armor and infantry, and another behind it.

Josh bit his lower lip, trying to fight down his fears. For his life, for his teammates'.

For Niyati's life.

_Just keep firing. _If he kept firing, they would survive.

He hoped.

The gatling guns chattered and chattered.

The Kraan kept advancing, and firing. More lightning bolts hammered Paladin. The cockpit lights flashed on and off. Tremors shot through the robot non-stop.

Josh kept firing.

Something flashed overhead. He looked up. Stubby, winged forms dove toward the Kraan. He ceased firing as a smile spread across his face. A-10 Warthogs, AV-8 Harriers and F-35s unleashed shells, rockets, missiles and bombs on the invaders. Huge plumes of flame and smoke consumed Kraan troopers and tanks. Strings of firecracker-like explosions ripped through the enemy ranks as cluster bombs detonated.

"Looks like the cavalry's here," Leslie said.

Josh slumped in his seat. He knew teams of US Navy SEALs were hidden around the battle area, ready to alert the Pentagon when the Power Rangers destroyed _Bad Atragon._

Swarms of helicopters appeared. They landed, disgorging hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers and marines. A few choppers even deposited howitzers and armed Humvees and dune buggies. Tracers and missiles streaked across the valley. US warplanes continued bombing and strafing the Kraan.

"Looks like the military can take things from here," Swede noted. "Good thing, too, 'cause I think this robot needs a serious makeover."

"Niyati, are you okay?" Josh radioed.

Still no response.

"Niyati. Niyati answer me," Leslie demanded. "C'mon, girl, respond."

Josh unbuckled himself from his chair and slid back the canopy. Using his Ranger-enhanced strength and agility, he leaped from Paladin's left arm to the right. He also noticed Randy and Leslie soaring toward the right arm . . . and Niyati's cockpit.

His stomach lurched when he saw the mangled arm, sparks and smoke belching from numerous holes and tears.

_Please be all right. Please be all right._

Josh landed next to the shielded cockpit, Leslie and Randy joining him seconds later. All three grabbed the bottom edges of the canopy and pulled. With their combined super strength, they ripped it off like it was cardboard.

Josh looked down into the cockpit. His knees buckled. He couldn't breathe.

Niyati lay slumped in her seat, unmoving, the right side of her yellow uniform stained with blood.

_**NEXT: THE CONCLUSION**_


	5. Chapter 5

Josh Reynolds was quiet.

He sat in a cushioned chair outside the HQ's infirmary, leaning forward, his steepled fingers resting against the tip of his nose. His ears kept alert for the sliding door, both hoping and dreading it would open soon.

Another ball of ice settled in his chest. He thought about Niyati lying in her shattered cockpit, unconscious and bleeding. Part of him couldn't accept the it. They were Power Rangers, for God's sake. Sure they'd gotten hurt in battle before. Bruises, bumps, sprains, a broken bone every now and then. But Niyati . . . he shook with worry when Sally, the HQ's medbot, ran down the Yellow Ranger's condition. Collapsed lung. Internal bleeding. Severe concussion. Separated shoulder. Fractured pelvis.

_What if she . . ._

He closed his eyes. _Don't think that! _He'd seen the medical nanites in action before, healing whatever injuries he'd suffered in previous battles in minutes.

But none of those injuries could compare to Niyati's.

_They can fix her._

_What if they can't?_

He glanced at the sliding door to the infirmary five feet from his chair. When would it open? When would Sally come out and tell them . . .

What if it was news he didn't want to hear?

He lifted his head and scanned the other Rangers. Leslie sat across from him, studying her folded hands in her lap. Shortly after they'd gotten Niyati to the infirmary, she had gone around to him, Swede and Randy, offering words of encouragement.

"Niyati's tough . . . she'll get through this . . . think positive thoughts."

Leslie had slipped into stone silence since then.

Randy and Swede had also barely spoken since they returned to HQ. Randy just sat next to Leslie, brooding with a hitherto intensity. Swede clutched a bucket of Swedish Fish, but didn't eat any. For the last half-hour he held the same, single piece of candy between his thumb and index finger, squeezing it.

Josh wondered if they all had the same thoughts he had right now. _Maybe not completely the same._

Various images of Niyati spooled through his mind. Watching her in battle. Chatting with her at meals or in the HQ's lounge. Their conversations ranged from music and movies they liked to heady stuff like why some in positions of power refused to acknowledge the existence of evil in the world and let it run amuck. He liked the way she smiled, the way they joked around, the way she encouraged him, the concern she showed him and her fellow Rangers if they got knocked around too much in a fight.

He held his breath as his mind shot him back a few months, to the Homecoming Dance at Santa Maria High School. For one night they could forget about being Power Rangers, about fighting the Kraan, and be normal teenagers.

And Niyati. My God, she looked so beautiful in that black dress that hugged her body so nicely, her hair done up. And they had danced together, to Nightwish's "Sleeping Sun." He still recalled that one line in the song.

"_I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime."_

In that moment, he realized his feelings for Niyati went beyond mere friendship or simple lust. He really cared for her, wanted to be around her, share his life with her.

His mind's eye fixated on Niyati as they danced in a slow circle in the school's gym.

Another image suddenly replaced it. Niyati in her shattered cockpit, covered in blood.

Josh's throat constricted. What if she didn't make it? No! He couldn't think that. She'd become such a fixture in his life over the past year. When he walked into HQ, there she was. Walking down the halls at school, eating lunch in the cafeteria, there she was. Fighting the Kraan, there she was.

If she were gone, how could he go –

The _shhh _of the sliding door sounded louder than an explosion.

All four Rangers sprang to their feet as the silvery, pole-shaped form of Sally the medbot rolled out of the infirmary. Tension crushed Josh's body.

_Please be okay. Please be okay. _He repeated it in his head like a mantra.

"How . . ." Leslie cleared her throat, trying to cover up her voice cracking. "How is she, Sally."

The red visor of Sally's oval-shaped head lit up as she spoke. "The medical nanites have repaired the injuries Niyati Mahamuni The Yellow Ranger suffered in her recent battle. She is resting at the present time. I anticipate a full recovery."

Josh's legs almost gave out. Relief flooded through him. He closed his eyes, feeling tears behind his lids.

_She's gonna be all right. Thank you, God. She's gonna be all right._

He glanced at his fellow Rangers. Leslie muttered a quiet prayer before crossing herself. Swede clamped a hand on Randy's shoulder. For his part, the Black Ranger gave a brief smile.

"Can we see her?" asked Leslie.

"Affirmative. Niyati Mahamuni The Yellow Ranger is asleep, so I advise quiet in her presence."

"You got it, Sally." Leslie nodded and led the other Rangers into the infirmary.

Josh's chest tightened as he neared Niyati's bed. She slept quietly, her chest rising and falling beneath the sheets. Her normally tan skin seemed paler.

But she was alive. That's all that mattered to him.

Sally, ever the thoughtful robot, rolled back into the infirmary, a folding chair in each of her four thin arms. She set them up around Niyati's bed. The Rangers sat down, staring at their sleeping comrade, waiting for her to wake up.

Fatigue crept over the edges of Josh's consciousness. The long day was finally catching up to him. He forced his eyelids back, focusing on Niyati's pretty face. He wanted to be awake when she came to. He wanted to be the first to say something to her.

_I will not fall asleep. I will not fall asleep. I . . . will not . . . fall . . ._

Blackness overwhelmed Josh.

He found himself back in the San Gabriel Mountains, standing on Paladin's shattered arm. Niyati lay in her cockpit, broken, bleeding and unmoving. He wanted to reach down, to carry her to safety. But he couldn't move. Fear coursed through him. _Please don't be dead, _he begged. _Please don't be dead._

"Josh, wake up."

The world went out of focus as Leslie's voice echoed in his ears. An instant later his eyes fluttered open. He was back in the infirmary, staring at Niyati's bed.

Josh instantly came awake when he saw the Yellow Ranger's eyes had opened. She grimaced and looked around.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Leslie smiled down at Niyati.

"You had us all worried, you know," Swede said with a smile. Next to him, a tight-jawed Randy just nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Josh got up and walked next to her bed.

"Sore," she replied in a groggy voice. "How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Josh asked.

"No. The last thing I remember, I was in Paladin. We were falling. I felt a big jolt, then something pierced my shoulder. Then . . ." She drew a quick breath, her eyes widening. "Oh my gosh. The Kraan? Did we -"

"Don't worry about those scumbags." Randy cut her off. "We knocked out that shield of theirs, so we're back to blowing the crap out of them."

"The Kraan still control most of Southern California," Leslie said. "But we stopped them from advancing any further. The military's pouring in reinforcements as fast as possible. A lot of other countries are even sending forces over here to help us out."

Niyati sighed in relief. "Glad to hear it. So when do we get back in the fight?"

Josh couldn't help but smile. Niyati might be a brainy chick, but she was a tough brainy chick.

"_You_ aren't doing any fighting for a while," Leslie stated in her stern commander tone. "You got busted up pretty good, and I want you at a hundred percent next time you face the Kraan."

"Come on, Leslie. I can -"

"That's an order."

Niyati slumped back in her pillow. "Oh, all right. If you insist."

"I do insist. Now, you need to get your rest. The rest of us have work to do. Swede, check how the repairs are coming to Paladin. Randy, Josh. Check the media outlets and find out the latest on the invasion. I'm going to talk to the Pentagon and see if they want us to conduct any commando operations until Paladin is back up and running."

The others nodded and followed Leslie toward the exit, but not before giving parting well wishes to Niyati.

"Get well soon." Josh gently grasped her shoulder.

"Thank you, Josh." Her face brightened as she looked up at him.

He felt a hitch in his breath. He gave Niyati's shoulder another gentle squeezed, smiled, and headed off with the other Rangers.

"Josh," Niyati called out.

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"Um . . ." She licked her lips. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Paralysis gripped him for a moment. _What could this be about?_

He turned back to the others, staring specifically at Leslie.

"Take as long as you need."

The Red Ranger's answer surprised him, but not as much as the twinkle he detected in her eye. Did she suspect . . .

_No. How could she?_

_  
_With a quick, parting smile, Leslie ushered Randy and Swede out of the infirmary.

Josh slowly walked back to Niyati's bedside, his heartbeat picking up. "So, um, what's on your mind?"

Niyati let out a long, audible breath. "There's something else I remember, before I blacked out."

"What is it?"

She cast her gaze away from him for a moment. "It's just . . . well, when we were falling, I picked up something over my neuro-link. This intense burst of thoughts, emotions."

Josh's brow furrowed. "How can that be? The neuro-links are just for Leslie to control our movements when we're all fighting in Paladin. We can't share thoughts or anything like that."

"I know, it shouldn't have happened. But what I felt, it was so strong. Maybe really strong emotions can override that programming."

Her gaze locked on his. He could sense the tension on her face, like she wanted to reveal something, yet hold it back at the same time.

His stomach flipped over. He thought back to his last thoughts before Paladin hit the ground. At that moment, he knew what Niyati was talking about.

"How come you never told me how you felt about me?"

Josh looked away from her, his legs trembling. He pulled one of the folding chairs up to Niyati's bedside and collapsed into it. His heart slammed into his chest. So many things he wanted to say. But his mind couldn't put the words together.

"Um, it's just . . . I mean . . . A girl like you -"

"Oh please don't say that line."

Josh scrunched his face. "What line?"

"That a girl like me could never be interested in a guy like you. How do you know unless you ask?"

"Because I was scared." He clamped his mouth shut, too late. Dammit! How could he just blurt that out? Guys like him aren't supposed to admit they're scared of anything. What would Niyati think of him now?

Hesitantly, he looked back at her, fearing he'd see disappointment in her eyes. Instead, she gave him a look of understanding.

_No going back now. _"Yeah. There. I admit it. I was scared."

"Of me?"

"No. I mean, not really. I mean . . . I was scared that if I asked you out, you'd say no, and if that happened . . . I just . . . I just don't know what I woulda done. I mean, I'd have to see you every day and we couldn't be . . . together." He barely whispered that last word. "You're just so . . . I've been . . . I really . . ."

Frustration built inside him. He was sputtering, trying to find the right words. What the hell could he say to show Niyati how he really felt about her?

His mouth hung open, but no words came.

Josh shook his head. He sucked down a breath, leaned over and kissed Niyati softly on the lips.

When their lips separated, he gazed into Niyati's face. Her wide, unblinking eyes stared intently at Josh.

He shivered. Had he gone too far? Was she mad at him?

Niyati placed a hand on his cheek. She lifted her head and kissed him. Josh placed a hand on her head, caressing her long black hair.

"I really . . . I really care about you, Niyati. A lot."

"I care about you too, Josh. I have for a really long time."

He closed his eyes. "I feel like an idiot. All this time we could have been together, and . . ."

He groaned and opened his eyes. Niyati was smiling at him. "We're together now. That's all that matters."

A smile spread over his face. He focused on Niyati's beautiful face, rubbing a strand of her hair between his fingers as he bent down for another kiss.

At that moment, Josh Reynolds, the Blue Ranger, was happier than he'd ever been in his life.

**THE END**


End file.
